Blowing the whistle: What the CCI's changed stance means for e-tailers

The Commission's latest study on the e-commerce market is almost a precursor to the Amazon-Flipkart probe order and it also sheds light on the Commission's new thought process

The country’s anti-trust watchdog could play a party pooper in the online shopping paradise. Exclusive deals at two e-commerce websites, Amazon and Flipkart, and large scale discounts on products have come under the scanner of the Competition Commission of India (CCI), in what is being seen as an about-face that portends hardening of its stance going forward.

This marks the first formal order of an investigation by the CCI into market practices by the two e-commerce giants. However, CCI Chairman Ashok Gupta claims the two have had many run-ins with the fair play regulator in the past. What seems to have